News Update

Democrats hold last-ditch talks with Manchin on spending

Democrats are hoping quiet negotiations between Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Joe Manchin can produce an agreement on key elements of President Joe Biden’s economic agenda before the window to pass ambitious legislation ahead of the midterm elections closes, as the Wall Street Journal reports. 

Manchin, a conservative-leaning West Virginia Democrat, and Schumer, a New York Democrat, have held a series of meetings in recent weeks on a package focused on lowering prescription drug costs, raising taxes and bolstering energy production in the U.S. Some expect a potential bill that could raise roughly $1 trillion in revenue and spend about $500 billion, though the senators’ discussions could still fall apart, as the Journal noted.

Whether this package would contain pressing elements of Biden’s original ambitious plan, including universal prekindergarten, an expanded child tax credit and child-care subsidies, remains to be seen. Manchin torpedoed that package last year in the closely divided Senate.